Overnight care is one of our most popular services at Swaddled Newborn Care Concierge, and for good reason! Newborns are biologically wired to eat every 1-2 hours, which means many new parents are faced with sleep deprivation. The best way to ensure a good night's rest those first few months is by enlisting the help of experienced and trained Newborn Care Specialists, Night Nurses, and Postpartum Doulas.
We get so many questions from parents interested in overnight care. Many parents have the same questions: What does an overnight shift look like? Can I hire a night nurse if I am breastfeeding? What does a night nurse do throughout the night? Can a night nurse help with baby laundry? These are all great questions!
Here is what a typical overnight care shift looks like:
10:00 pm
Your night nurse arrives at your home, excited and ready to care for your little one. You sit down to chat for a few minutes about the baby's day and any road bumps that you might have had with feeds, naps, diaper blowouts, etc. This is a perfect time to go over questions or concerns about anything newborn or postpartum-related. Your night nurse is happy to go over swaddling techniques, baby's first bath, soothing tips and tricks, and so much more.
10:15 pm
Time for you to get some sleep! While you are crawling into bed, your night nurse gets ready for the night ahead of her. This includes restocking the nursery of diapers and wipes, starting a load of baby laundry, organizing breast milk for storage, and washing/preparing bottles and/or pump parts.
11:00 pm - 5:00 am
When it is time for your little one to eat, your night nurse quietly changes your baby and gets them ready to eat. This can look different for all families. For breastfeeding moms, your night nurse will bring your baby to you for a quick and comfortable nursing session in bed. Once you are done nursing, you can go right back to bed while your night nurse takes care of burping, re-swaddling, and putting your baby back to sleep. For bottle-fed babies, your night nurse will feed your baby and get them down to sleep while you rest soundly. Other moms might prefer to pump a couple of times a night instead of breastfeeding on demand. In this case, your night nurse retrieves the pumped milk to use for feedings and washes the pump parts so that they're ready for your next use.
Whichever way you decide to feed your baby, you can rest assured that your baby will be taken care of while you get the rest you deserve.
When your baby wakes throughout the night, your night nurse will rock and soothe them back to sleep, ensuring that you and your family aren't disrupted. They will work to establish healthy sleep habits from day one so that your baby can sleep longer and longer stretches as they grow.
5:00 am
Your night nurse makes sure everything is done to prepare you and your baby for the day ahead. She washes and sanitizes all bottles and pump parts, preps bottles for the day, and folds the rest of the baby's laundry. Before leaving, your night nurse updates the log with any feedings, diaper changes, or notes from your baby's night.
6:00 am
Time for your night nurse to leave. She brings the baby monitor to your bedroom or sends you a text before she heads out. You wake up in the morning, well-rested and wondering why you hadn't decided to book overnight care with Swaddled Newborn Care sooner.
Ready to book overnight care with us? We can't wait to help you and your family get more rest!